Cyclist hit in random shooting at B.C. randonneur event

A 59-year-old cyclist participating in the Cache Creek 600 endurance bike race suffered a gunshot wound while he rode through the darkness near a small British Columbia town Sunday morning.

Fellow cyclists were understandably shocked at news of the shooting, as we all are. Authorities don’t have a suspect and are at a loss to explain why someone would take a pot shot at a passing cyclist.

The cyclist, Craig Premack of Burnaby, was riding on Highway 1 near the small town of Spence’s Bridge at about 1 a.m. Sunday when he was shot. The Globe and Mail reports that he was treated and released from a local hospital and will undergo surgery to his injured arm.

The B.C. Randonneurs Cycling Club, based in Vancouver, sponsored the two-day round trip from Pitt Meadows to Cache Creek and back again. Thirty-eight cyclists pre-registered for the endurance bike ride of about 370 miles. Premack has been a member of the club since 1998.

Police were notified by a hotel owner who hosted a rest stop on the randonneur route after a woman stopped at the hotel to say there was a wounded cyclist in the road. The CBC network says police believe the suspect took the shot from off the highway then fled in a pickup.

Let’s all hope Premack makes a full recovery, and Canadian police make an arrest.